blather: foolish talk — bubbe: Yiddish for grandmother

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Hug ’em if you got ’em

I struggled with what to title this post. “Life is short” was too trite. “Be thankful” was too preachy. “There are no guarantees in life” was too something or other.

The real message of this post is to tell those you love that YOU LOVE THEM! Tell them often. Make absolutely sure they know. Do not take it for granted.

This weekend we learned that our next door neighbor’s daughter-in-law had died rather suddenly. She was a lovely young woman in her thirties, a mother with three young children. We didn’t really know her other than to nod or smile at in passing when she visited B, but she was always friendly and sweet. Our neighbor B said DIL had been feeling tired for a couple of weeks. When B saw her the Sunday before last she’d had a headache but said she was feeling better. The next day she was gone.

The doctor said she’d had an aneurysm as a result of undiagnosed leukemia. Her last moments were spent in a coma with no evidence of brain activity. After hearing these details I was devastated for her family. Under those circumstances they didn’t get a chance for one last meaningful meeting of the eyes; one final “I love you”; one more gentle hug. I was near tears for the rest of the evening, mourning their loss on more than one level.

Hubs was right there; he knew I was internalizing their grief. He stroked my hand, nuzzled my neck and generally took care of me till I was able to let it go a bit. It wasn’t my loss after all, merely a reminder that life is indeed short and none of us should ever forget that.

So … if you’ve got loved ones go hug them! And keep on hugging them as often as possible.